A system is known in which one print job is processed by two or more printers in parallel, i.e., clustering output can be executed by connecting a server apparatus and a plurality of color printers through a network. In this system, since a plurality of printers are used, faster output than printing by one printer can be done.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-290622 describes a method of implementing high-speed clustering output. According to this reference, print data is converted into intermediate data and divided for each printer. Then, rasterization to printer-oriented final print data and transmission of the rasterized data to the printers are executed simultaneously in parallel.
In this clustering print system, even when a printer is inoperative, output by the remaining printers is possible. Hence, the system can guarantee a stable printing operation.
Moreover, in a technique described in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-340164, a fault monitoring unit to monitor the status of each machine is provided on a network. When a failure occurs in a printer or machine, print data is diverted to another printer, thereby enabling recovery for each page.
For, e.g., clustering output of print data described in a page description language (PDL) such as PostScript, an optimum intermediate code data is preferably generated in each printer as an output target. In the conventional print system, interpreter processing is executed by preparing a software RIP (Raster Image Processor) with an interpreter for each printer on the server side and creating intermediate code data at a high speed or by executing interpreter processing for each printer one by one and outputting intermediate code data.
In the former case, however, the cost increases because of the software RIP. In the latter case, the processing speed decreases.